PORTLAND, Ore. — In their final scheduled debate, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and her Republican challenger Knute Buehler addressed a wide range of issues, generally sticking close to their campaign platform positions.
The debate, hosted at the KGW studios in Portland and sponsored by KGW Media Group and OregonLive/Oregonian, was the last chance for the two front-runners to be Oregon’s next governor to face off before ballots get mailed to voters later this month.
Brown, a Democrat seeking her first full term after being elected in 2016 to serve the remainder of former Governor John Kitzhaber’s term, pressed to continue what she called “steady incremental progress” and advocating more attention to affordable housing, education spending and health care security for Oregonians in need.
Brown said her administration wants to spend $370 million relating to building more affordable housing units and she pointed to the upcoming Portland area housing bond measure as key to funding at least 12,000 more units in the Portland area.
“This [homelessness] is a problem in the entire West Coast,” said Brown, citing her efforts to provide critical assistance to the “23,000 children” in particular who are in need of housing stability throughout the state.
Buehler, a Bend area lawmaker and physician, pressed the incumbent on several points, including the growing homeless population not just in the Portland metro area but around the state.
“The results show that homelessness has grown much worse under Governor Brown,” he said, offering support for programs that offer “compassion and tough love.”
Oregon’s challenges with its high school graduation rate, which ranks as one of the worst in the nation, were also a focal point of the debate.
Brown, who lives in Portland and was previously Oregon’s Secretary of State, noted that her goal is to raise Oregon’s rate to 85 percent by 2022, which would be a sharp increase from the current level of 77 percent and bring the state to slightly above the current national average.
Education is shaping up as one of the key issues that both candidates are focusing on, noted KGW political analyst Len Bergstein.
Tuesday’s debate was the first time that Brown has noted a specific benchmark goal for the state’s graduation rate, said Bergstein.
“That is a vulnerable spot for her, and Buehler knows it,” Bergstein said.
Buehler stood by his campaign platform of leading Oregon from the bottom five nationwide in graduation rate to the top five in five years.
Other issues included building a new Columbia River Crossing (“Scotch tape” was Brown’s sarcastic quip as to what Buehler would use to pay for a new bridge), foster care (“Our 8,000 foster kids deserve so much better,” said Buehler, in reference to ongoing scandals involving state child welfare services), and PERS, the state retirement system for public employees.
On PERS, Buehler said he would stop large payouts to retirees, which has been the focus of several TV- ad campaigns by outside advocacy groups, while Brown countered that “hard-working Oregonians” would face cuts if Buehler were successful.
Pressed to comment on President Donald Trump, neither candidate expressed support, focusing instead on the impact of federal policies on Oregonians.
“Buehler took almost every opportunity to separate himself from Trump,” said Bergstein, citing the responses on health care, climate change and leadership style.
The governor’s race appears to be a close contest, with a new poll showing Brown has a slight lead over Buehler, 49 to 45 percent, with other candidates dividing up the remainder. The poll was conducted between Sept. 24 and Oct. 7 by Riley Research Associates for KGW and The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Related topics:
You can also search #ORGovDebate on Twitter: